The news of the destruction of the Humen fortress group soon spread, and the Beijing ship also got the news.

To Lin Yuan's surprise, the British fleet did not attack the city of Guangzhou, as Zhang Hua analyzed, but went all the way north and attacked Xiamen on December 21, the next day.

After receiving the news of the outbreak of war, the Beijing ship immediately set sail and went to the waters near the Taiwan Strait with a fleet of captured Japanese warships, that is, the First Fleet of the Ryukyus.

Lin Yuan first said: "Comrades, let me first introduce the situation, on December 20, the British fleet attacked the Humen fortress group, and we have not analyzed the loss of the Humen fortress group, but according to the reconnaissance of our drones, the ships of the British fleet were not damaged. ”

Chief of Staff Shi Yunkai said: "Judging from the composition of the British fleet, 27 are combat ships, and a few are transport ships, and we do not know what the transport ships are loaded in for the time being. ”

Lin Yuan said, "Can't you be sure? ”

The chief of staff said: "From the time our reconnaissance planes captured the target ship yesterday until now, we have not been able to determine what is inside the transport ship due to the heavy fog on the sea. ”

Lin Yuan said: "If the transport ship is loaded with personnel, then the British army may have to carry out a landing operation, the first Opium War is an example, if they want to land and fight, where will they land?" ”

Political Commissar Han Mingguang said: "Judging from yesterday's battle situation, the British did not want to land in Guangzhou, will they land in Shanghai or Tianjin?" ”

Lin Yuan said: "If you land in Shanghai, then you will enter Nanjing, an important city in the southeast, and if you land in Tianjin, the goal will be more clear, the heart of the Qing government, Beijing, but what is the purpose of the British landing operation?" ”

Shi Yunkai said: "I don't think the British want to occupy Beijing, overthrow the Qing government, and turn China into their colony, their real purpose is to coerce the Qing government and reap greater benefits at the negotiating table!" ”

Lin Yuan said: "This analysis makes sense, but why didn't the British land directly in Beijing, but go to the Humen fortress in Guangzhou to fight for a while? ”

Everyone was thinking silently, Lin Yuan suddenly thought of something, he suddenly said: "The real purpose of the British: is it the Beiyang Fleet?" ”

Lin Yuan really didn't guess wrong, the purpose of the British fleet was the Beiyang Fleet!

When the news of the devastating blow to the Humen fortress reached Beijing, the Qing court was angry and did not rush to war, but wanted to negotiate peace with the British, and the British insisted that it was the Humen fortress that fired first at the British fleet, and the British fleet was forced to return fire.

On December 21, the British attacked Xiamen again, and the Qing court was furious, and Weng Tonghe wrote: "If the British have repeatedly provoked, if I ignore it, how can I maintain the majesty of the Celestial Empire?" The Beiyang Fleet has been in force for a long time, and when this country is in danger, how can it sit and not fight? ”

On December 21, the Qing court declared war on the British, and the Guangxu Emperor ordered the Beiyang Fleet to be dispatched to meet the invading British ships.

After two naval battles with Germany, the Beiyang Fleet had not recovered its vitality, and at this time it had to reluctantly leave Weihaiwei and go to the East China Sea to meet the battle.

On December 23, Hill, the young chief of artillery on the Havoc, was wiping the deck with his subordinates, when his warship received an order to go to the southeast sea with four Havok-class torpedo destroyers and two Savage-class armored cruisers to search the Beiyang Fleet.

At that time, there was no radar, and the search for targets could only rely on optical reconnaissance equipment, but the distance of the telescope was limited after all, so the cruiser with high speed and a lot of coal was allowed to leave the main fleet at a certain distance and search for the enemy fleet in front of the entire fleet. This is also where the name of the cruiser comes from. (In English, the corresponding name of the cruiser is "cruiser", which means patrolr).

It was a blessing to be able to spot the opposing fleet in the vast sea, so Hill silently prayed that they would be able to discover the Beiyang Fleet.

But the sky was not beautiful, and on this day the sea rose fog, and it was difficult to see the sea surface a thousand meters away from the telescope, so Hill couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in his heart.

At this moment, the Savage-class armored cruiser Savage gave a battle signal! Discover the Beiyang Fleet!

A huge fleet in the fog revealed its hideous figure, and Hill's heart couldn't help but have a trace of panic, after all, the distance between the two sides was too close, a distance of less than a thousand meters, enough for the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships of the Beiyang Fleet to calmly sink their own warships.

At this time, the captain of the Havok ship gave the order to seize the advantageous position at full speed and fire torpedoes at the Dingyuan ship!

The captain's order, the whole ship cheered, in the boiler under strong pressure and ventilation, the shining metallic coal burned violently, the scorching gas passed through the fire pipe, turning the water into extremely high-pressure steam, and the steam pushed the propeller, and the whole battleship ran at high speed, approaching the side position of the Dingyuan ship.

The target is 800 meters away, the torpedo crews open the safety device on the torpedo, open the manual of the enemy ship, find out the draft of the Dingyuan ship from it, and then set the depth for the torpedo, and the observer calculates the speed of the Dingyuan ship with the fastest speed to determine the timing and position of the launch.

The target was 700 meters away, and a deafening cannon sound sounded on the sea, and from the sound of the cannon, Hill could hear that it was the 234mm main gun of the Barbarian neighing, and then, the Dingyuan ship also opened fire, but what made Hill happy: the Dingyuan ship was not aimed at himself.

At a distance of five hundred meters, the Dingyuan observed the British destroyer attacking at full speed, and the large-caliber rapid-fire guns on it began to bombard the Havok, and Hill felt very strange: "Why didn't the captain give the order for his artillery to return fire?" ”

At a distance of 300 meters from the target, a 450-mm torpedo fell into the water with a "plop" from the torpedo tube in the bow of the ship, and a white line rushed to the Dingyuan ship with the breath of death.

The Dingyuan ship also saw the torpedo in the water, and at such a short distance, the Dingyuan ship couldn't dodge it at all!

Since the day the torpedo appeared, it was doomed to the fate of the warship killer, the cabin below the waterline of the warship, usually is the engine room, this cabin is the source of power for the entire warship, a warship that loses power means that it is bound to be sunk The huge power of the torpedo, which can often blow up the outer wall of the engine room, countless seawater pours into the engine room, and the warship will lose power.

The hull below the waterline is the source of buoyancy for the warship, and if the hull at this position enters the water, the warship will not escape the fate of sinking.

Liu Buyun, the pipe band of the Dingyuan ship, faced with the catastrophe, gave an order that all the crew members could not understand, and the Dingyuan ship turned with all its strength and aimed the torpedo with the bow of the ship!